Former Rosemead coach pleads not guilty to molesting boys

EL MONTE - A former assistant high school wrestling coach who ran a children's wrestling program in Rosemead pleaded not guilty to molesting two boys on Tuesday in El Monte Superior Court, according to sheriff's officials.

Herbert Daniel Ortizmonroy, also known as Herbert Daniel Ortiz, 30, of Baldwin Park was charged in October in a felony complaint with three counts of lewd acts upon a child and two of oral copulation of a person under the age of 16.

The majority of the crimes allegedly occurred between 2008 and 2010 and involved a 14-year-old victim. One of the child molestation counts was alleged to have occurred in 2002, when the second victim was under the age of 14, according to the District Attorney's office.

The defendant, a U.S. citizen, was recently arrested at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico and deported back to California.

The defendant is scheduled to return to court on Jan. 10 for a pretrial hearing, sheriff's officials said.